Prove It
by The Lady Mage
Summary: Okay, so maybe it didn't go exactly as he had planned.. Well, not at all like he had planned.. But he was nothing less than sincere. Now, if he could just convince her of that- but how? Pure C/7 fluff! Alt-EndGame AU. COMPLETE!
1. Will

**Author's Notes: Hello, and welcome to my fluffy goodness! This fanfic will be four chapters long, and takes place ten months from the end of season 7 as if EndGame never happened. No admiral, no nebula full of Borg conduits, no Alpha Quadrant. And before you ask, NO, I am not killing off Seven just because this is an alternate Endgame fic. KTHNXBAI!**

 **Special thanks to Scifiromance and Starshine for letting me tell them a story! MUAH! Love ya both!**

 **Obligatory Legalities: Don't own them, never will.**

 **Read and Enjoy!**

 **~LM**

 **XXX**

With a satisfied sigh, Seven placed the last clean dish on the plate rack before turning to hang the damp dishtowel on its hook to dry. She wasn't sure why Chakotay insisted upon handwashing the dishes after they ate dinner instead of just putting them back to be recycled into the replicator, but over the last few months, the simple chore had grown on her. A part of her felt it was his way of contributing since she was predominantly the cook between them, and this way he felt like he participated. Another part of her thought it was an excuse to tease her- a reason to not so innocently brush his arm up against her arm as they stood side by side at the little sink, to lean over and peck a kiss on her temple as she distractedly dried whichever dish was in her hands, to make her gasp or squeal as he playfully flicked cold water her way. Either way, she found she didn't mind.

"All finished." Chakotay announced softly in her ear, his arms winding around her stomach from behind and pulling her back flush to his front.

"Mm-hmm." she agreed with a small smile, lifting her arms up to run her fingers through his hair behind her head. She moved her fingers down to the scruff of his neck, enjoying the soft groan from his throat as she pressed her thumbs into the tensed muscles there.

After a few seconds, he leaned down and kissed her shoulder. "Not that I want you to stop, but let's go sit down, Querida."

"As you wish."

He smirked, gently pulling her by the hand, "I do wish." As they passed the table, he grabbed the half-empty bottle of white wine he had replicated with their dinner and the two wine glasses. When Seven settled down on the couch, he placed the glasses on the coffee table and began to fill them.

"You know I can't handle synthehol." Seven protested softly, watching him.

"You can't handle _much_." he gently corrected. He took one of the glasses and dumped half of it into the other, completely filling it to the brim. He handed her the half full glass. "But this much shouldn't hurt you." Taking a heavy sip of his own, he hummed his pleasure. "Try it, Seven. It's really good."

She continued to give him a skeptical look, one eyebrow daintily raised, but she brought the clear glass of wine to her lips. It was slightly sweet, barely tingling on her tongue, before it warmed its way down her throat and into her stomach.

"It's good, isn't it." said Chakotay, taking another large swallow of his as she nodded. "You should have tried it with the mushroom tortellini you made. It paired well."

"I thought it would." She took another little sip, enjoying the warm feeling that seemed to spread through her abdomen. "According to my research it was the best choice."

Draining the last of his glass, Chakotay paused only to peck a kiss on her lips for agreement before pouring the last of the wine. The empty bottle was set on the floor beside the coffee table as he leaned back into the soft cushions behind him. Raising his arm in invitation, a grin pulled across his face as Seven took the offer and curled in beside him. This time, she kissed him, her lips sweetened with wine. When she pulled back, he licked his lips. "Mmm.. Forget the tortellini.."

She chuckled. "You're adorable when you're tipsy."

"You're adorable all the time." he returned.

Seven smirked, finishing her glass. Already she could feel the mellowing effects of the synthehol settling over her, leaving her warm and content, staring into the burnt sienna eyes of her lover. It had been such a whirlwind ten months, moving from picnics in the cargo bay to outings on the holodeck and now to quiet, intimate, candlelit dinners in his quarters. Having the Doctor remove the failsafe from her donated cortical node had been the single best decision she had ever made. Ever since then, her emotions and humanity had grown in leaps and bounds. Suddenly, she had understood a lot of the subtle nuances of human nature that had always failed to gather her attention before. Of course, it helped to have a good teacher. She and Chakotay had had a.. rough start years ago, true, but she knew he meant it every time he told her-

"I love you." he murmured, their glasses finished and forgotten on the coffee table now, his cheek brushed against hers as he kissed his way down her throat.

An appreciative hum snuck past her lips, their edges tilting into a pleased smile. "I love you, too."

"Do you?" He nipped her pulsepoint, drawing a gasp out of her, as he moved his hands down to her hips and guided her to straddle his lap. His lips began their slow ascent back up her neck.

"Yes." she sighed, tilting her head back as he lifted one hand from her hip to pull her hair free of its twist.

"Prove it?" he mumbled against the starburst of silver by her ear.

An amused smirk crossed her face as she ground her hips down against his. "Prove it? Are you inebriated?" she asked with a soft giggle.

He grunted, his hands firmly back on her hips to hold her body close to his. "Maybe a little.. tipsy." he answered before laving his tongue over the sensitive implant beneath his lips. "Not much more than you."

"How do you know that-" Her breath whooshed out of her lungs as his hands moved up to cup her breasts over her blue biosuit. "..that I am.." She giggled at her own distraction. Chakotay was intentionally making it hard for her to concentrate- she could feel the smirk on his lips as he moved them back down against her throat. "..that I am inebriated..?"

A soft chuckle rumbled out of his chest, vibrating against her skin where his lips touched. "You're giggling." he answered. "Anyway." He punctuated his words with soft kisses. "You.. love.. me.. prove.. it.."

"..how?"

"..Marry me."

Seven's whole body jerked in surprise. That was definitely not what she had expected to come from his mouth. "Wh- what?"

He was gently easing her down onto the couch cushions, his body hovering over hers as he pulled back to meet her eyes. Her pupils were dilated, her lips and cheeks flushed pink, and her hair laid out around her like a curly golden halo. He smiled down at her before playfully kissing the tip of her nose. "Marry me?"

She giggled, moving her hands up to lay on either side of her head. "You are definitely inebriated, älskling."

"I'm not that drunk, Querida.."

"You're not serious."

Chakotay shifted his weight so that he was propped up by one arm. The other hand he brought up to cup her cheek, rubbing his thumb lightly over her full bottom lip. "Of course I am. Marry me, Seven."

The blonde beneath him giggled again. "Maybe someday.. not today.. Ask me again when you are sober, Querido.." When he opened his mouth to retort, she lifted her hips up, grinding against him. "Chakotay.. please?"

He groaned at the contact, his eyes shut, head falling foreward to rest his forehead against hers. "Please, what?"

She arched her back, bringing her chest into contact with his. "Please.. Kiss me.." She smirked against his lips as they quickly met her own even as her thoughts went racing. ' _Besides.. You couldn't possibly want to marry a Borg drone.. Could you?_ '

 **XXX**

Later, in the small hours of the night, Chakotay lay awake in his darkened bedroom, the only illumination the strip of safety lights above the sink in the attached bathroom. Beside him, Seven lay naked and asleep, her body curled against his side as she sought out his warmth. He watched the rise and fall of her ribcage as she breathed. Her skin was so pale that she looked paper-white against his tan colored chest. A half-frustrated sigh breezed through his lips as he lifted the hand not wrapped around Seven and looked at the little red velvet box he'd pulled from the nightstand as she slept. Tom had spent three hours with him last week coming up with the design for the little white gold and diamond ring inside it.

With care not to wake Seven, he reached over and dropped the ring box back into the nightstand drawer before turning his body towards her and stretching. The blonde sighed contentedly in her sleep as he shifted, her face finding the hollow of his neck. Despite his mood, he couldn't stop the amused grin that crossed his face, throwing his arm over his lover and pulling her body tight to his. It had taken him months to get her to attempt to sleep, and now that she had acheived it, sleeping next to him had becoming one of her favorite things. Honestly, it was one of his favorite things, too. He hoped to sleep beside her every night. ' _But she thinks I'm joking.._ ' Of course, thinking back, he did kind of bumble through it. Had he really needed a whole bottle of liquid courage? He probably would have doubted his sincerity, too. ' _So how do I convince her I am serious?_ '

The ex-Maquis commander was just almost asleep when an idea hit him. After a second or two of deliberation, he slowly began to disentangle himself from Seven's arms, glad that the mixture of synthehol and exercise worked to keep her asleep. Free of the bed, he grabbed the ring box and a clean pair of boxers before he headed for the livingroom. He had work to do.

 **XXX**

The bed was cool when Seven woke up the next morning, her eyes still stubbornly closed but her arm reaching back to Chakotay's side of the bed behind her. When she felt nothing but cold sheets, she turned over with a frown. "Chakotay?" she called out sleepily. Her enhanced auditory array could pick up the gentle hum of the warp core, the sound of people walking up and down the hall outside the doorway towards the messhall, but not the shower running or Chakotay moving around. Vaguely, she remembered that he had an earlier shift than her that morning, but he usually woke her before he left.

Not without a twinge of disappointment, Seven slowly kicked the covers back to her waist and brought her hands up to rub over her eyes. Quickly accessing her internal chronometer told her that it was still fifty-three minutes before she had to be in the briefing room for the morning meeting.

"Seven.. Querida.."

At the sound of his voice, her stomach flipped happily. "..Hmm?" Seven hummed, stretching like a cat before slitting open her blue eyes. In the darkened bedroom, Chakotay moved to her side of the bed and leaned down over her. He was freshly showered, shaved, and already dressed in his uniform for the day. She smiled sleepily up at him as he leaned down and kissed her cheek. Faintly he smelled of the sweet herbal tea he drank in the morning and slightly spicy aftershave. " _Buenos días_." she murmured.

He moved his lips to the starburst by her ear. " _Buenos días, mi amor_." he whispered, settling one knee on the bed by her thigh to hold his weight and laying a warm hand across her bare stomach. He moved his lips to meet her own while his finger drew lazy, tickling circles across the bottom of her rib cage. "Did you sleep well?" he whispered against her lips. "You looked so peaceful that I didn't want to wake you."

She turned her head, bringing one hand up to cover a yawn before she stretched again, arching her back to pop it. The air quickly left her lungs as his hand moved up to cup around one full breast. Her yawn turned into a pleased hum that hitched in her throat as his fingers began to massage. "..Chakotay.."

The commander smiled down at her, amused. He still found it quite adorable that the beautiful blonde laying in his bed, who was usually so totally in control, was relaxed enough to be comfortably half-asleep in his presence. He kissed her starburst again before nuzzling her ear and drawing a soft giggle from her throat. "Do you remember.. last night..? And what I asked you..?" he whispered. At her nod, he slowly ran his thumb over her nipple. He followed it with his tongue before whispering again against her skin, "I was serious." He pecked a quick kiss on her cheek as he leaned up. "I'll prove it."

"Wh-what?" By the time her senses returned to her, he was off the bed and out of the bedroom, slipping out the door before she had time to do more than sit up. A soft crinkle sound and the feeling of something stuck to her back quickly pulled her attention away from his swift retreat. She reached behind her and peeled whatever it was off of her back, and held it up for her still sleep-blurred eyes to see.

"A note?" she scowled, flipping the white paper over to read it.

' _Buenos días, preciosa. Te quiero. ~Chakotay_ '

A pink blush crawled up her neck to inflame her cheeks despite the lack of an audience. Shaking her head, she reached out to the nightstand for her com badge before remembering that all of their clothes were likely still in the livingroom where they had shed them. Quickly slipping from the bed, she covered another yawn with her metal-laced hand as she slipped into the livingroom in search of her badge. Her biosuit was in a pile under the coffee table; her badge sat atop it, the emergency light strip above the door illuminating the room enough for her to easily see it. She snatched it up, clicking it on. "Seven of Nine to Chakotay."

The Computer's voice spoke pleasantly above her. ***** _"Commander Chakotay is unavailable."_ *****

Seven's brows drew together. "Seven of Nine to Chakotay."

 ***** _"Commander Chakotay is unavailable."_ *****

"Computer, WHY is Commander Chakotay unavailable?"

 ***** _"Commander Chakotay has disabled all incoming communication."_ *****

"Why?"

 ***** _"Unknown."_ *****

Seven's frown deepened. "Seven of Nine to the Captain."

Kathryn's voice was soft and a little gravely from sleep. Seven guessed she hadn't had her first cup of coffee yet. ***** _"Yes, Seven?"_ *****

"..I was testing to make sure my badge was working properly."

 ***** _"You're coming through loud and clear in my ready room. Do you have reason to think it wasn't working?"_ *****

"..No." answered the blonde, biting her lip. "Is Chakotay with you?"

 ***** _"I haven't seen him yet this morning. Have you tried to contact him?"_ *****

"Yes, and it will not go through."

 ***** _"I see.. it might be a glitch in the comm system. I'll have Harry look into it."_ *****

"Okay. Thank you, Captain."

 ***** _"You're welcome, Seven. See you in an hour. Janeway, out."_ *****

Seven scowled, palming the badge and heading back into the bedroom to prepare for the day. ' _Maybe it is just a glitch._ '

 **XXX**

Kathryn lifted her cup of coffee from the replicator and turned to look at Chakotay standing by her desk, a half-smirk on his face. "I hope you know what you're doing." she said with an amused smile.

"I do." he returned.

"Good." The Captain sat at her desk, taking a long sip from her cup before leaning back and looking up at her first officer. "She's like the daughter I never had, Chakotay.."

"I know." he said quickly.

"Don't leave her hanging too long, okay?"

"I won't." His half smirked bloomed across his face into a look of pure mirth. "So.. how do you feel about your son-in-law being your first officer?"

Kathryn chuckled. "I could always trade you out for Tuvok."

Chakotay feigned hurt, dramatically clutching at his chest over his heart, and staggering back a step. "After all these years? I'm insulted!"

" _You're_ insulted?!" Kathryn set her cup down on the desk. "Whatever happened to asking the parents' permission before proposing?"

"That went out in the twenty-second century." Chakotay lifted his PADD from her desk and tucked it under his arm. He turned to head back out to the bridge, but paused before the doors swished open. "So in a couple of years, if we have kids, do you want to be Granny- or Abuela- or Mamaw- or-"

A bark of laughter left Kathryn's throat. "Get out of here before I throw something at you!"

The Commander laughed. "I'm going, I'm going!"

Just as the doors began to swish closed behind him, Kathryn called out. "They can call me Nana!"

 **XXX**

Seven tried to let Kathryn's words reassure her as she headed into the en suite. It wouldn't be the first time that the comm system had malfunctioned. Still, a little thought niggled in the back of her brain. ' _Why would he say that to me, and then run away?_ '

"Computer, lights, sixty-five percent brightness." The room was still humid from his shower, this deck being the only suites with actual water plumbing instead of just sonic. Tucking her hair behind her ears, she stepped up to the open shower to set the water temperature. In the dim lighting, something slowly twisting in the gentle breeze from the climate control vent was hanging from the showerhead. "Computer.. lights- eighty-five percent brightness."

Dangling from the silver pipe by a thin white ribbon was a red hanging tag like what would be used on a present, pointed at one end and straight at the other. The paper was blood-red and the size of her hand, slowly swaying back and forth. With a curious scowl, she gently pulled the tag down and flipped it over. On the back was Chakotay's distinct handwriting:

' _Seven, I love you. Please marry me? Love, Chakotay._ '

The light blush on her cheek flamed red as she choked on her next breath in surprise. "What?" she whispered to herself, eyes darting around the room like she half expected a holocamera to be attached to the ceiling watching her every move. ' _He can't be serious.. can he?_ '

With a soft sigh, she stepped into the shower and turned on the sonic setting, the red gift tag loosely held in her human hand. The sonic setting did its magic in minutes, leaving her clean and dry and ready to go about her day. The red tag was tossed on the small counter, her eyes drawn to it, reading the words over and over as she blindly reached for her hairbrush on his shelf. Something tickled the inside of her wrist when she lifted her brush, pulling her attention from the red paper to her hand.. and the second red gift tag.

' _Seven, I love you. Marry me? ~ C._ '

"He's serious.." she whispered aloud, her stomach suddenly feeling like a hollow pit inside her skin. A little voice in the back of her head squeaked out a soft warning that this all may just be a dream or a trick. Still, a warm swooping feeling took over, flipping around inside her stomach. He had never lied to her. A smile bloomed across her face. "He's serious."

The tag was removed from the brush and placed with the other one on the counter before she pulled the brush through her hair to tame it back into its typical updo. Once she was pleased with the style, and then dressed in a freshly replicated blue biosuit, she made her way to the livingroom to grab her shoes. The first one went on just fine. The second one had something stuck in the toe.

Frowning, she pulled out a folded red tag, her eyes skimming over the black marker. ' _Seven, I love you. Marry me? ~ C._ ' "Really?" She smiled again, amused. The tag was tossed on the coffee table before she slipped her shoe on and headed for the door. Pasted to the door was another red tag, identical to the one found in her shoe. She couldn't stop the laugh, or the roll of her eyes, as she stepped out into the hallway.

The floor at her feet was littered with red, pink, and white papers like giant rose petals, all with her name on them. ' _Seven, I love you. Marry me? ~ C._ '

"Omega." Looking both ways, she quickly ascertained that the coast was clear, then hurriedly bent down and gathered up all the papers before anyone could see them. Slowly, it dawned on her that she had only minutes before heard people walking to and from the mess hall in front of Chakotay's quarters.. and he had been gone for a good forty minutes so in all likelihood, the feline was no longer apprehended.. or however Tom puts it. Either way, her blush spread up her neck again at the realization even as she wondered why it made her feel that way. Perhaps because she and Chakotay were generally private people, and this was the exact opposite of private.

She heard footsteps behind her heading her way. She definitely did not want to be caught cleaning up the evidence, so she hugged the papers she had already picked up tight to her belly, and sprinted for the turbolift.

The turbolift doors swished open, blissfully empty of humanoids, but to her growing embarrassment, was littered with more papers- all signed by Chakotay, and all asking her to marry him. As the doors slid closed behind her, she quickly scooped up the twenty or so pages on the floor. "Deck One." Before the doors slid open again, she grabbed the last one plastered to them, adding it to the stack in her arms as she slipped out into the corridor. This floor, it seemed, was untouched, and she breathed a soft sigh of relief.

"Hey, Sister!" Tom's voice came from behind her as he walked towards her and the briefing room down the hall for the morning meeting. "Good morning."

She couldn't stop the jerk that traveled from her tailbone to her neck at the sound of his voice. She shoved the armload of papers into the recycler next to the turbolifts before turning to look at him. "Good morning, Mister Paris."

Tom watched one of the red pieces of paper slip from the pile as she shoved it into the recycler, and bent over to pick it up from the floor. Seven was there before him, snatching it up from the floor and shoving it with the others as they disappeared before he could even get his fingers on it. With an amused smile, he stood back up. "What'cha got there?"

"Merely bits of paper someone littered the hallway with. Nothing more." Damn her blush, and damn her lips for insisting to smile. Before he could retort, she turned and headed for the briefing room. The morning meeting would start in three point seven four minutes, and she didn't want to be late for it.

Harry, Tuvok, and B'Elanna were already in their usual seats when Seven walked into the briefing room, Harry and B'Elanna chatting back and forth over the latest bit of gossip from Deck fourteen, and Tuvok trying his hardest to read the PADD in front of him and not sigh audibly at the conversation he was being forced to overhear. Seven quickly rounded the table to take her seat. Sitting in the middle of her chair was another red gift tag. ' _Omega.._ ' The blonde didn't think she had ever sat down so fast, her chair rocking back for a few seconds before righting itself. While her blush deepened yet again, she sunk into the seat, ignoring the crinkling paper beneath her as she settled.

"Are you okay, Seven?" Tom asked as he took his seat next to her. "You look a bit.. flushed."

"I am fine, thank you." Seven returned, working hard at schooling her features into their typical Borg indifference.

"Was Miral okay when you dropped her off?" B'Elanna asked, turning her attention across the table to her husband. "She's been so cranky lately."

Tom smiled with a nod. "Sam was happy to take her, and Miral seemed happy to go. I'm sure Sam spoils her just as much as her _tío_."

"I'm not sure that's possible." Harry said with an amused snort. "Miral isn't even a year old yet and she has Chakotay wrapped around her little fingers."

"Miral isn't the only one with Chakotay wrapped around her fingers, is she, Seven?" teased Tom, reaching out and giving Seven's shoulder a playful pat. A corner of red paper stuck out from beneath Seven's thigh, catching his attention. He reached down and gave it a tug. "What'cha sittin' on, Seven?"

Seven snatched the paper from his hand as he pulled it free from her chair, quickly stuffing it under her other thigh and out of his reach. "It-"

"Good morning, everyone." The Captain said, breezing into the room, a PADD under her arm and a cup of coffee in her hand.

"Good morning, Captain." Tom said, absently fidgeting in his swivel chair.

"Good morning." said Harry and B'Elanna. Tuvok and Harry nodded.

"Anyone have any reports to hand in early?" asked the Captain. "We're so far away from anything else right now that I'm almost bored enough to read them like a burlesque novel."

"I'll remember that when I choose my wording later." B'Elanna joked with an amused snort.

"Seven's sitting on her report." said Tom, his attention on Harry across the table.

The blonde woman's head whipped around to look at him, unable to school the ' _you-will-be-assimilated_ ' glare off of her face for two point seven zero zero three seconds. The glare lightened to a scowl as she pictured herself having to ball up the piece of paper and swallow it to keep its message hidden. Briefly, she wondered what the ink would taste like before she tossed the idea out like old bathwater. "I have no report." she said cooly, turning her attention back to the wood grain inlaid into the tabletop.

B'Elanna smirked. "Then what is that piece of paper you're sitting on?"

"Oh, that reminds me," Kathryn cut in, turning towards Harry. "I need you to run a full diagnostic on the comm systems. There seems to be a glitch."

"I'll get right on it, Captain." said the young ensign.

"Well, if no one has anything to contribute.." Kathryn took a sip of her coffee.

"We are kind of in a dead zone, Captain." said Harry. "Nothing on sensors worth checking out, no higher forms of life on any of the planets near us, and no mineable resources for lightyears."

The Captain looked down at Seven. "See if you can't enhance the sensors a little- finesse them a bit- and maybe something interesting will pop up."

"Yes, Captain." said Seven with a nod.

"Good." said Kathryn, gesturing to the doors. "You're dismissed."

Seven was the first to stand up, practically shooting out of her chair, red paper crumpled in her hand and out of sight. She made it to the doors before Harry's voice stopped her.

"Hey, Seven," he began, quickly crossing the room to her. "Have you seen Chakotay this morning? I had an idea for the-"

"Chakotay is doing early rounds, Ensign." Tuvok answered as he slid past the two younger officers and onto the bridge.

"Oh." said Harry, his face falling a little. "Thanks." He looked back at Seven. "Well, if you see him before I do, will you tell him I need to talk to him, please?"

' _You are not the only one._ ' Seven thought, but nodded her head once before heading for the turbolift on the bridge.

 **XXX**

 **Well? How did you like it? Tell me in a review!**

 **~LM**


	2. You

**Author's Notes: Welcome to chapter 2! I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing!**

 **~LM**

 **XXX**

When the turbolift doors opened to deck eight, Seven cautiously slipped out, her eyes scanning up and down the corridor for anything red. Seeing nothing but standard issue gray wall panels and carpeting punctuated by standard issue doors, she turned and made her way down towards Astrometrics to begin her shift. Her peaceful calm was broken as the doors to astrometrics slid open before her. Every console had a pink, white, or red page attached to them along either wall, and one taped to the seat of all six stools. The floor was partially littered with the smaller red tags like on her hairbrush, leading in a trail up the little steps to the platform where a red balloon was weighed down by an especially large red tag with the words ' _Marry Me!_ ' in bold black ink scrolled across it. Standing in the middle of the central console was Tal Celes, a PADD in one hand and the other resting on the trim around Seven's workstation.

Hearing Seven hesitate in the door, Tal looked up from her PADD. "Good morning, Seven." she said pleasantly, sending a friendly smile to the stunned ex-drone before returning to her PADD. "I just got the order from the Captain for some enhancements to the sensor array and-"

"Tal Celes, you are dismissed until after your lunch hour." Seven said absently, her eyes still wide as she took in the sea of pink and white and red.

Tal put the PADD down on the edge of the main console and turned fully towards Seven. "What? But I thought we were going to-"

"There has been a change in plans. You are relieved, Crewman." Seven said quickly, trying and failing to keep the smile off of her face.

The young crewman frowned in worry. "Have I done something wrong again? I went over yesterdays numbers five times before I turned them in- I swear! I even had Harry look them over before-"

Seven shook her head, walking up to the console. "Your work yesterday was exceptional." she said, trying to sound friendly. She had nothing against the Bajoran- in fact, she was quite pleased with what leaps and bounds in competency she had managed to conquer after taking that little trip with the Captain a year ago- and she certainly didn't want her to think there was anything wrong. "Con-.. consider this a reward. You will report back here after lunch."

"Oh." Tal mumbled, slowly slipping past Seven. She turned back around to look at her blonde superior, holding back the smirk as Seven quickly snatched up all the red tags on the console. "If you're sure, then. I'll.. see you after lunch."

"Yes. After lunch, Crewman." Her main console now free of tags, she slipped out and began to pluck them from the stations along the walls, paying no attention to Crewman Celes as she quickly left the lab.

It took another seventeen minutes to get every page picked up. By the end, she had a stack easily ten inches tall. The replicator recycled them all in seconds, leaving only the balloon and the large tag on the platform. She turned back to them with a half-amused smile. This was getting ridiculous. The balloon bobbed and rotated back and forth where it was rooted to the floor by the large tag. She held it from floating up to the ceiling with one hand while she picked up the biggest tag.

 _'Seven, I love you! Marry me? XOXO, Chakotay'_

Her comm badge clicked when she touched it. "Seven of Nine to Commander Chakotay."

 ***** _"Commander Chakotay is unavailable."_ *****

Seven's brows drew together. "Seven of Nine to Chakotay."

 ***** _"Commander Chakotay is unavailable."_ *****

A sigh blew out of Seven's nose. "Computer, locate Commander Chakotay." If she couldn't talk to him over the comm, she would just hunt him down. She was still unsure whether she wanted to smack him or kiss him. She supposed she would decide once she saw him. Maybe both.

 ***** _"Commander Chakotay is on the USS Voyager."_ *****

Seven rolled her eyes. "Specifically!"

 ***** _"Commander Chakotay is on the USS Voyager."_ *****

"What a _RELIEF_!" Seven huffed, rounding the platform with the giant tag held to her chest. "I'm so pleased that he isn't on the Val Jean or the Enterprise or the-the.." What was it Tom always.. "The Death Star!" With a frustrated grunt, she released the ribbon to the balloon and the red tag and put both hands palm down on the main console. If she couldn't find Chakotay right now, she would wait for him in the mess hall, and talk to him then. Or hit him. Another smile broke out across her face. Maybe she would hit him and then kiss it better.

 **XXX**

"Here you go." Chakotay pulled the tall stack of white, pink, and red papers out of he replicator tray and fanned them in his hand to check they were correct. Assured, he held the stack out to the short redhead standing in front of him. "Go to town, Naomi."

Naomi Wildman took the stack of papers with a big smile on her face. "Go where?"

"Go to town. It means go all out. Go big." Chakotay said, leaning down and whispering to her mock-conspiratorially. "This is an important mission, Crewman. I need these papers placed everywhere. Now, you know Seven's schedule and routine almost as well as I do, don't you, Crewman?" At Naomi's solemn nod, he continued. "Alright then. Leave a good trail, okay?"

"Aye-aye!" said the young half-Ktarian. "I'll do my best."

Chakotay gently clapped a hand on her back over her blue overalls. "There's a good girl. One step closer to being Captain's Assistant already."

Naomi snickered. "Commander.. you know that's not a real position. I'm not a little kid anymore."

Chakotay's face nearly fell. He wagged a finger at the young girl. "Now don't give up hope yet! It's a long trip back to the Alpha Quadrant. You may end up Captain someday- not just assistant."

The little girl's eyes widened as she took in the new idea. "Me? Captain?" she said reverently. "Captain Wildman.." She nodded, satisfied. "I like the sound of that."

The Commander leaned down to whisper. "Don't tell the Captain I said this, but I do, too." With a laugh, he gently touseled her hair, and sent her on her way.

 **XXX**

Seven had just began the fourth recalibration of the sensors when the doors behind her swished open. She tore her eyes from the scrolling code on the large screen and looked over her shoulder as Harry walked up to the main console with a stack of PADDs in his hands.

"Good morning, Seven." he said pleasantly, a smile on his face. He set the stack of PADDs on the console. "How has your morning been? You seemed a little flustered in the meeting this morning."

"Good morning." returned Seven, setting the computer to continue without her and turning fully to him. "My morning has been.. fine. I apologize if I seemed-"

"Oh, no need to apologize for anything." Harry chuckled. "I was just checking on you."

Seven gave him a small smile, honored. "I appreciate your concern, but I am fine." Remembering earlier, she felt her smile drop, and she turned her eyes back to the console. "I haven't seen Chakotay this morning to tell him to talk to you."

"I saw him a little bit ago. I already spoke with him." said Harry, picking up the PADDs and holding them out to her with an innocent smile. "He's the one who gave these to me to bring down here. Reports."

"You.." Seven closed her mouth, accepting the PADDs. "Thank you, Harry."

"You're welcome." he returned, turning to leave. "I'll see you later. I have to go run a diagnostic on the comm system. The Captain thinks it's malfunctioning." He gave her a little wave as he walked out of the doors. "See ya later!"

The blonde sighed, turning her attention down to the stack of PADDs. She quickly skimmed the first one, then lifted it to tuck it beneath the botton one, and froze in surprise. Folded up between the two PADDs was a pink piece of paper. Setting the PADDs down, she snatched the paper and unfolded it to read the message.

 _'Seven, I love you. Please marry me? ~ C.'_

She blushed again. ' _Harry, too?_ ' With a sigh, she lifted the next PADD and was unsurprised to find another sheet of paper with the same message. There were five PADDs in all; each PADD sandwhiched a sheet of pink, printed paper. Again, she clicked her comm badge. "Seven of Nine to Chakotay."

 ***** _"Commander Chakotay is unavailable."_ *****

" _Helvete._ " she hissed under her breath. She would just have to wait for lunch.

 **XXX**

Two and hours later, Seven set the last algorithm running on the console before turning and breezing out of Astrometrics just in time to meet B'Elanna slipping out of the bathroom between the cargo bay and Astrometrics. Seeing the blonde coming her way, the half-Klingon started, her whole body tensing for one tenth of a second before she continued down the corridor as nonchalantly as possible.

"Hello, Lieutenant. Can I help you with something?" Seven asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Hey, Seven." B'Elanna said casually. "I have to feed Miral, and Sam ran down to the lab to check something so I'm just going to go pick her up.. How's it going?"

"Well, Lieutenant. Thank you." returned Seven, eyeing her suspiciously before slipping past her and into the restroom.

The inside of the small bathroom was covered in red and pink, tags and pages stuck to every available surface, scattered on the floor, and hanging from the ceiling tile by curly white ribbon. Scrawled in a familiar shade of maroon lipstick across the mirror read, 'Marry me? XOXO, C' surrounded by hearts and one little skull and crossbone in the bottom corner. The ex-drone immediatly flushed, an embarrassed frown bleeding across her face as she turned and fled back into the hallway. "B'Elanna Paris!"

But the engineer was long gone.

Seven blew a sigh out of her nose, slipping back into the bathroom to use it before quickly picking up all of the notes. She stuffed them into the recycler before turning her eyes to the lipstick writing on the mirror. Washing her hands in the sink, she used the damp paper towels from drying them to scrub away the greasy markings. Once the bathroom was back in order, the blonde spun on her heel and headed out into the corridor. She paused in irritation in the doorway. In the five or so minutes she had been in the bathroom, someone had come along and littered the corridor with white, pink, and red papers. " _B'ELANNA!_ "

The ex-drone groaned, bringing her human hand up to rub the skin over her ocular implant. Leaving the papers where they had fallen, she turned and stalked to the turbolift. She could deal with the mess after lunch.

 **XXX**

Stepping off the turbolift onto deck two was like walking into a valentine. The corridor was bathed in red, white, and pink. Papers littered the floor while others were plastered to the walls, all bearing the same message as all the others had before them. Strips of paper had been looped into one long, tri-colored chain that zig-zagged its way along the ceiling around other sheets of paper that had been hung with white ribbon to twirl gently in the breeze as people walked by. Three female science ensigns and a lower deck crewman walked past her, each with a piece of paper in their hands, reading its message and speaking excitedly. Seven nearly stepped back onto the turbolift to run away, but they paid her no mind as they continued on their way towards the messhall. Her stomach softly rumbling bolstered a bit of bravery. She hadn't eaten since she had prepared their dinner the night before, and her stomach seemed to care more about being empty now than it had before she had begun sleeping as well as regenerating.

With a soft sigh, forcing her hands to stay at her side instead of wringing across her belly, she began the seemingly long walk down to the messhall. She could still hear the others ahead of her, but they were discussing the big party in Sandrine's that night and not a word about her or Chakotay, or the thousand and two marriage proposals decorating the hallway. As she rounded the final corner before the messhall doors, she paused. Here, the floor was littered with paper airplanes of all combinations. The scrunch in her nose came naturally as she wondered why they were there, dropping only as she stepped into the bright, crowded messhall.

Immediately, she was forced to duck as a bright red airplane whizzed past her ear, the edge coming far too close to her eye. With her moved out of the way, it sailed on past her and out the open doorway to hit the wall across with a soft crinkle. Mystery solved.

"Sorry!" came a quick call from a few tables over.

The inside of the mess reflected the corridor outside- loose paper everywhere and paper chains hanging from the ceiling like Christmas decorations. Neelix would have loved it had he been there. Just wait til he got a load of this in their next transmition. She was sure he would find only joy where she was quickly beginning to find anxiety.

More paper airplanes sailed back and forth across the room as a group of operations officers engaged a group of lower deck crewman in a war. Besides the battalion of fighter planes, a small army of origami animals of all genus and specie were stationed on every table- the ones that hadn't fallen to be trampled on the ground at least. As she skirted the wall to join the lunch line, she saw several crewman she knew to be Maquis who were sporting the pieces of paper taped to their backs and folded into bracelets, necklaces, and rings as they joked and laughed while they ate their lunches. Others had little red tags attached to their com badges, and two Bajorans had red tags hanging from their ears.

"Hello, Seven!" Chell's voice pulled her out of her anxious observance, and she quickly turned her head to see him. The blue cook had a large pink folded paper hat on his head, complete with a red origami flower tucked into the brim.

"Hello, Chell." she greeted, holding her tray out to him. "How are you today?"

He smiled kindly. "Oh, you know, I'd be great if I could just get over being so blue all the time." When she quirked a half-smile, he chuckled, beginning to fill her tray.

"What is on the menu today?" she asked, turning her head back to watch the airplanes soar back and forth across the room.

"Oh, I made something extra good today!" he said excitedly. "It's Andosian pork chops with a side of matrimony!"

Her head whipped back to look at him, her face flushing pink. "Excuse me?"

The smile on his face dropped a notch as his eyes widened. "Macaroni? You've never had macaroni and cheese? Boy, are you in for a treat! Apparently it was a human delicacy of some sort." He placed an extra scoop of the orange dish on her plate. "Here, have a little extra and tell me how you like it!"

"Oh, uh," she mumbled, taking her tray, "I will. Thank you."

"You're welcome. See ya later, Seven."

When she turned back around, her eyes searched the room for an empty seat- and hopefully an empty table. The room was crowded, lunch in full swing, and though here and there were places to sit, she didn't feel comfortable taking them amidst the wider crew.

"Hey Seven, over here!" Tom's voice rang out across the room, gathering her attention. He, Harry, and B'Elanna sat together at a table in the corner with Miral in her highchair, one chair left empty against the wall. She didn't need to be invited twice, quickly weaving through the room and ducking two airplanes before slipping into the chair beside B'Elanna's.

"Hello, Seven." B'Elanna greeted, stirring a bowl of blended macaroni before holding a bite out to an eager Miral. She glanced back at the blonde, her eyes circling Seven's face with a little frown. "Are you okay? You look a little flushed."

Seven sighed, picking up her fork. "I am not okay."

Harry tried to cut his porkchop, sawing away at it as though it was a cedar log and not his lunch. "Are we sure this is porkchops and not shoe leather?"

"Do you need help cutting your meat, Harry?" Tom asked patronizingly, laughing as Harry side-eyed him.

"I'm not sure it's meat, Tom."

"Seriously." B'Elanna ignored the boys, turning her full attention on the blonde woman beside her. "You look like you're about to be sick."

Seven warily eyed the rest of the room. "I.."

Harry looked up from his plate to examine the blonde's face for himself. His eyes immediatly softened. "Hey, I know it's a lot-"

"This is Icheb and Naomi's doing." Tom said quietly, reaching out to swat a paper airplane before it could hit Miral. He turned back to the two groups throwing them. "Hey! We got a baby over here! Watch your fire!"

"Sorry, Leiutenant.."

"Sorry, Tom.."

"Yeah, yeah." the pilot muttered turning back to smile at Miral who was sitting like a baby bird waiting for B'Elanna to feed her.

"Chakotay.." Seven continued to eye the room. "Recruited Icheb and Naomi.. to do this?" Her eyebrows drew down. "How many sheets of paper can you replicate with one ration?!"

"Forty-seven." answered Tom as nonchalantly as possible.

B'Elanna snorted, giving Miral another bite. "You brought this on yourself, Barbie." she said, her voice half affectionate and half tease. "He told me you thought he was drunk."

Seven colored as many shades of red. "He had a whole bottle of wine, B'Elanna!"

Tom chuckled. "Well, he seems pretty serious to me, Sister."

Surprisingly possible, Seven blushed a deeper scarlet. She pushed her tray away and sunk down into her chair. "You think?"

"Let's clean you up, _be'Hom_." B'Elanna murmured, wiping Miral's orange face clean before pulling her daughter into her arms to nurse the rest of her lunch. With Miral settled, the engineer turned her attention back to her own lunch and the flushed blonde beside her. "Now, for the record, Chakotay and I used to start with a bottle of wine each. He can hold his synthehol."

"I was a little tipsy, myself." hissed the ex-drone.

"Seven, you got drunk?" Tom smirked. "I'm proud of you."

"I was not drunk!"

Harry smacked Tom's arm. "Cut it out, Tom." He looked back to Seven. "You're coming to Sandrine's tonight, right?" When she nodded once, he smiled. "Good. We can-"

" _BOMB'S AWAY!_ " The room suddenly exploded with papers as one of the warring factions threw two huge handfuls of scrap paper across it towards their enemy. " _TAKE THAT, ROBERTO!_ "

As papers fluttered down around the room, B'Elanna let out a loud growl, clutching Miral to her breast. "If Miral gets ONE PAPERCUT because of you _toDSaH_ I will make you SORRY!"

The last straw broken as the seclusion of their table suddenly became the focus of attention, Seven abandoned her tray and her seat, standing and quickly fleeing the room. Tom, Harry, and B'Elanna called out for her, but she ignored them, turning down the hallway and out of sight.

The three left at the table shared a look. Tom was the first to speak. "Uh-oh.."

The engineer shook her head. "I told him this would be too much." she said quietly.

"He says he knows what he's doing." said Harry. "I mean.. it's just paper."

"It's more than paper. It's calling her out." corrected B'Elanna. "And putting her on the spot."

"Don't worry." Tom said, his hand hovering over the red tag taped to his name badge. "I'll tell him to pull back a little."

 **XXX**

Seven didn't stop until she found herself in front of Chakotay's front door. She didn't even have to think to put the code in- he'd programmed it long ago to open for her. With a half-relieved sigh, she slipped inside the door, kicking off her shoes before making a beeline for the darkened bedroom. She could feel her eyes burning, her vision a little blurry despite the Borg enhancements, even though she couldn't identify exactly what it was that made her feel like crying just then. Embarrassment, perhaps? She was unsure.

Flopping down onto the bed, she reached out and pulled Chakotay's pillow into her lap before placing her elbows on it and cradling her head in her hands. She could smell his aftershave faintly on the soft grey pillowcase, and that alone began to calm her down. Briefly, she considered stripping out of her biosuit and curling up in the bed. If she could just fall asleep, she could skip the rest of this day until he found her at the end of his shift curled up in her misery. Then maybe he would wake her up with a kiss and a soft murmur and she could beg him to forgive her for doubting him- for deflecting his question so that he believed she doubted him.

"Omega.." she whimpered, wiping the wetness away from her eyes. She jumped, horrified, as her whimper turned into a choked sob before she could clamp her lips shut. She swallowed hard, moving her metal-laced hand over her mouth to hold anymore emotional noises in. She needed to calm down- not become worse. After a few minutes, she managed to school her face. Her tears dried up into nothing, leaving the mottled red flush on her face as the last bit of evidence that she had had such an outburst.

The bathroom smelled like both of them now when she entered it, grabbing a small facecloth from the stack in the built-in shelves and wetting it with cold water in the sink. She scrubbed her face pink, washing away the salt and blending the mottle back into her skintone. Examining her face in the mirror for any more signs of her episode she deemed it all well hidden, and quickly exited Chakotay's quarters before heading for Astrometrics.

 **XXX**

 **Love it? Hate it? Tell me in a review!**

 **~LM**


	3. Marry

**Author's Notes: Welcome to chapter 3! Read, enjoy, review!**

 **~LM**

 **XXX**

The corridor through Deck eight was blissfully free of paper when she sped-walked her way through it, passing the Cargo Bay no matter how much she wanted to find another hole to crawl into and continuing on to Astrometrics. Rounding the last corner, she stopped abruptly to look down. Laying on the floor in front of the doors was a single red rose with a red note tied to it with white ribbon. Cautiously, as though it might bite her, she picked up the flower. The doors swished open in front of her as she brought it to her nose before turning the note over to read it.

' _Seven, Sorry for the mess. I love you. Please marry me? XOXO~ Chakotay_ ' Maybe he was still serious? Please still be serious..

"Oooh, that's a pretty flower."

Tal's voice broke her out of her thoughts. She began to hide the flower behind her back, but stopped at the last moment as she examined the lab around her. The floor was wonderfully clean, but every console had a new note taped to it and the red balloon from before was now fastened to a little clear bud vase on her console. Icheb worked at the only side console without a sign attached to it, Tal at his side as they both looked over whatever data was pulled up on the screen. The young Brunali sported one of the red tags over his com badge when he turned to smile at her. A matching one dangled from Tal's right ear like a _d'ja pagh_.

"You are back early, Tal." Seven said deflectively, walking up to the main console. She eyed the bud vase- already full of water- with a half-smirk before sticking the rose into it for safe-keeping. "Your lunch break does not end for another twelve minutes."

Tal only smiled, walking back to the main console. "Well, since I had the morning off, I ate a little early so I could come back here and get a jump on that alignment issue we were supposed to work on today. Icheb came along and helped."

"I only input one algorithm." said the teenager, his fingers working over the console and his eyes on his screen. "Crewman Celes did the rest." Finishing and saving his work, he spun around on the stool. "I have lessons in the holodeck with the Doctor now." The young man walked to the main console and placed his hands down on the trim. "The Doctor and I are remapping the genome of a Talaxian furfly. If we can finish before our next transmission with Mister Neelix, I would like to send him my research." He smiled. "I think he will find it funny."

Seven returned his smile with a nod. "I am sure he will."

"Then I had better get going." said the young man. He nodded to Tal respectively, then to Seven. "See you later, Seven."

"Enjoy your lessons, Icheb." she returned, watching him walk out the doors.

"He's such a good boy." Tal said with an affectionate chuckle, turning down to the side console and pulling her scans up to continue.

"He is." agreed the blonde, watchign the door for a few seconds more before returning to her work.

 **XXX**

"So..." Tal broke the silence hours later. She glanced over at Seven as the blonde looked up to see her with inquisitive eyes. "You're going to Sandrine's tonight, right?"

Seven nodded once before glancing back down at her console. "Yes."

"What are you gonna wear?" asked the young Bajoran, setting the console to calculate and freeing up her mind for a few minutes. "Is it something red? It should be something red!"

The blonde cocked a delicate metal eyebrow at her. "Elaborate."

Tal giggled. "If you wear something red, you can put that rose in your hair. It would be so pretty!"

"Pretty is irrelevant."

The Bajoran scoffed at her, crossing her arms over her chest before leaning back against the console next to Seven. "Oh, come on, Seven.. You know, it's going to be nearly sixty years before we make it back to the Alpha Quadrant.. Sometimes you need the little irrelevant things to keep you going. A piece of cake here, a fun new holodeck program there, a little souvenir from the last alien homeworld we visited.. A dalliance now and then will do you no harm."

"I find it difficult to take you seriously with that red tag hanging from your ear." Seven said, turning her eyes back to the big screen and the scrolling Borg language across it.

"Oh, then, by all means.." Tal pulled the tag from her ear, undoing the knot in the ribbon, and then placed it beside Seven's rose. "There. Now. Serious face."

Seven snorted, pursing her lips to hold back the amused smirk. "You don't have a serious face, Crewman."

"Somewhere under all this beauty is a serious face." Tal said, gesturing to her face. She gestured towards Seven's. "Just like under all this beauty is a smile. I've seen it." She crossed her arms again. "So what are you gonna wear?"

"...I replicated a red dress yesterday at Chakotay's..."

Tal barely kept from clapping her hands. "I knew it! So, did the commander see it?"

"No."

Tal practically squealed, immediately launching into speech, exciting talking about her own dress and the reaction she got from the Delaney's when she showed it to them and how she knew Harry liked green so she made sure her dress was the perfect shade of shamrock to catch his eye. Seven listened patiently, half her attention still on finishing up their work before they could log off for the day and switch places with Meghan and Jenny. A year ago she would have been gritting her teeth until she could find an efficient way of cutting off the excitable Bajoran's words with something just biting enough to keep her quiet and working until the end of their shift, unable to relate and unwilling to try. But the past few months had been an interesting change. Once Harry had staked an interest in the analyst she had all but blossomed. Quiet and timid and shy were gone. Where before she had run from Seven, now she made it her mission to befriend her. For Harry's sake, she had let her.

"Anyway, it's 1700 hours... are we done?"

Seven looked up from her scans, checking her internal chronometer. "It is 1657 hours, Crewman."

Tal smirked. "Three minutes is just long enough to tell you aaaalllll about Jenny's new date. He's a crewman down on deck fourteen and he has a huge-"

"You're dismissed, Tal." Seven cut her off with a smirk. "Use your remaining two minutes wisely."

The Bajoran saluted with a smile. "Yes, ma'am! See you tonight!"

Seven watched her leave with something akin to relief, glad for a minute to be alone for the next hour as she finished her shift. Empty, her stomach gave a loud rumble, churning below her ribcage. It was ignored in favor of the red rose in front of her. In privacy, she raised her hand to click her badge. "Seven of Nine to Chakotay?"

 ***** _"Commander Chakotay is unavailable."_ *****

She kept her bottom lip from pouting by sheer force of will. "Computer, locate Commander Chakotay."

 ***** _"Commander Chakotay is on Voyager."_ *****

"Of course." she mumbled, bringing a hand up to rub the bridge of her nose and stem the headache that wanted to begin there. She brought herself some comfort in remembering that he usually came by around 1730 hours to collect her report. If she really stretched her words, she could make the next half hour pass swifly while she typed it up for him. "Computer, one PADD. On this console." She paused as her belly growled again. "And one standard meal bar- strawberry."

 **XXX**

Seven had just turned back to the big screen when the doors finally swished open. Ready to tackle him, shower him with kisses, or hit him upside the head- she wasn't sure- but a grin split her face as she spun around. Instead of a dimpled smiling Chakotay walking towards her console, B'Elanna carried a wriggling Miral on her hip. B'Elanna snorted when Seven's face fell before she could school it into her typical nonchalance. "I love you, too, Seven of Nine." she teased, hitching Miral up higher as she stepped into the circle Seven stood in.

Seven gave her a half smile. "I'm sorry. I thought you might be someone else."

The smirk that overtook B'Elanna's face was smug. "Oh? Who would that be? My brother?" When Seven only raised an eyebrow, the half-Klingon laughed. "Okay, okay. Anyway, could you do me a favor?" She gestured to the quarter-Klingon in her arms, the dark-haired chubby baby gurgling happily as she chewed on a pink paper airplane. "Tom doesn't get off for another half hour and Vorik has somehow managed to fuck up the alignment of the port clamps on the bussard collectors and I have to help correct it. Sam is on the holodeck with Naomi... and Miral misses you."

Seven smirked, reaching out and giving Miral's bare foot a shake. "She is eight months old. How do you know she misses me?"

As if on cue, Miral reached out, pitching her body forward so that Seven had no choice but to take her, her gurgles changing to little excited squeals as Seven pulled her in close. The baby shook her soggy airplane, leaning in and laying her head over her aunt's collarbone. B'Elanna smirked again. "That's how I know." she answered, reaching out and patting Miral's back. "Now have fun with your _Tia_ Seven while _SoSoy_ tries her best not to murder Vorik.." She met Seven's eyes. "Tom will come get her as soon as he leaves the bridge. I'm sorry to impose, but-"

Cuddling the baby in her arms, Seven gently cut her off. "It is fine. I will mind her while you.. attempt not to murder Vorik."

"Thanks, Seven." B'Elanna smiled, reaching forward and dropping a kiss on the crown of Miral's head before she turned to leave, setting the diaper bag down beside the console. "I owe you one!"

The blonde watched her leave with a sigh before turning her attention back down to the baby in her arms. "What have you here, Miral?" she asked, gently unfolding the airplane. She nearly rolled her eyes. "I should have known." She tucked the soggy paper behind her back. "But this is not a very good nutrituional supplement for you. Perhaps your _SoSoy_ thought to pack you some age-appropriate toys?" Fortunately, there were a handful of toys in the diaper bag, and soon Seven had them placed with Miral up on the raised platform to play while the blonde continued to run her scans.

Miral crawled up to Seven's console on three limbs, a little red ball held to her chest with her other hand. Destination met, she leaned her head down over the console to see the shiny lights as Seven's fingers moved across them. Plopping down onto her diapered bottom, she set about gumming the knuckles of her free hand as she let the ball fall from her grip to bounce once in front of her and then roll down the console to rest against Seven's waist. The ex-drone smiled, taking the ball and holding it out to the baby, but stopped short as she took in what the little one was wearing.

Little pink leggings dotted with stars covered the snaps of a white onesie upon which was written, ' _SoSloDnI' va!_ ' in big pink letters. Seven scooped the baby up into her arms, straightening the shirt to make sure she was not mistaken in its message. "Marry my Uncle." she translated softly as Miral gurgled. Seven looked the quarter Klingon up and down with a sigh. "Look at you... Used like a pawn... Poor, exploited Älskling." She shouldered the baby, gently patting her back as she walked to the platform's steps and took a seat on the middle step. Sighing, stretching her legs out as she continued to rhythmically pat Miral's back. "I love your uncle.." she murmured. "I really do.. I'm sorry I thought he wasn't serious.. Where is he? Surely he isn't.. angry with me? And all these papers are his way of- of throwing it in my face?" She scowled, shaking her head. "But he isn't like that. He wouldn't.. He loves me." Carefully pulling Miral down to be cradled in her arms, she met a tiny pair of sleepy brown eyes. "Can you believe it? Out of anyone.." A metal-tipped finger tapped against the baby's nose brought out a sleepy smile. "Anyone.. And he picks me.. The drone. The EX-drone." Miral's lips pursed into a little O, her last sleepy coo breezing past her lips. "What are we going to do with him, Miral? _¡Él es una loco!_ "

When Tom came to astrometrics it was five minutes past six. He'd hurried down after his shift- eager to see his little girl, and eager to check on Seven. With no word since she had run off at lunchtime, he wasn't sure if Chakotay's little plan was the best course of action to take with the ex-drone. He fully expected to walk into a warzone- his daughter playing the part of an adorable little Godzilla while Seven frantically followed her around to clean up the messes. What he didn't expect was for his little hellion to be curled up asleep on Seven's shoulder while the blonde woman quietly completed her work for the day.

"Tom?" Seven turned back to check on her pseudo-sibling when he stood in the doorway for longer than the sixty seconds it would have taken to cross the threshhold and approach her workstation. She readjusted the sleeping quarter-Klingon in her arms, being careful not to wake her.

"Hey, Seven." he finally greeted, walking up to the consoles. "How's it going?"

"Fine." she answered. "She has been asleep for seventeen minutes. If you are careful, you may be able to keep her asleep long enough to lay her down."

"Oh, hell no, I can't." he argued softly with a chuckle. "She never lays down for me. It's like she has a sixth sense- she knows it's Daddy so she wakes right up.." He smirked, eyes roving over his princess's peaceful face. "She knows Daddy will rock her until _SoSoy_ gets home and it's really bedtime."

"Speaking of _SoSoy_.." Seven eased Miral back down into the crook of her arm, straightening the baby's shirt. "Look what she did."

Tom peered down at the pink scribbles on Miral's shirt with an amused smirk, reaching out and gently relieving the blonde of his daughter. With her safely on his shoulder with barely a grunt, he chuckled. "Oh, Seven, you know I don't read Klingon." He lifted the diaper bag from its place by the console. "What does it say?"

"It says.." Seven stopped herself, grabbing the handful of toys from in front of her console and putting them into the diaperbag. "..nevermind." She turned back to the console, effectively dismissing the conversation. "Good luck with her nap, Lieutenant."

The pilot smirked behind her, tucking the bag securely under his arm. "Okay. See you later at Sandrine's tonight, right?"

"Yes."

"Okay, see you then."

Once the pilot and his child were out of the lab, Seven quickly began to shut down for the day. She made sure all the continuious scans were running correctly, wired to alert the bridge should anything show up in her absence. When the Delaney's reported for their shift later, all they would need to do would be to sign into their consoles and everything would be brought up out of sleep-mode. Finished, she turned and walked out into the corridor- a touch surprised that it wasn't covered in paper this time- and headed down to the cargo bay. She required one full hour of regeneration to make up for sleeping the night before, and if she did so now she would have plenty to time to be ready for the party at 2000 hours.

Slipping into the Cargo Bay, the blonde stopped short. Her alcove was papered in pink, the green glow from the power module at the top of it lighting up the piece of paper printed with hearts taped over it. The dais was clear, but the controls were covered in the same patterned paper. Icheb sat on the dais of his own alcove, a PADD in his hands and a pink paper hat resting on his head.

Seven crossed her arms in irritation, walking up to the boy. He only turned to look at her when her feet came into his field of vision. "Really, Icheb?"

The teenager scrunched his nose. "Really, what?" The blonde gestured to the pink paper. Icheb's eyes widened slightly. "I didn't do that!"

"Well then who did?" She stepped up onto the dais, reaching out to rip the paper away, when her eyes focused on it. What before had looked like patterned hearts from far away were actually words up close. Immediately she recognized Chakotay's handwriting spelling out, ' _Te Quiero Te Quiero Te Quiero.._ ' over and over to make the shape of hearts and smilie faces and stars. "Chakotay.."

"That would be my guess." commented Icheb, standing from his dais. "Naomi and I will be babysitting Miral tonight while the Lieutenants are enjoying the party. I have downloaded several books on infant care to aid in our success.." He looked sheepish for a moment. "Lieutenant Torres says she should sleep through the whole thing, but I felt it would be a good idea to prepare. Just in case."

"A prudent gesture." agreed Seven, carefully pulling the sheets of paper from her alcove and stacking them neatly in her hands.

"I believe I will consume my nutritional supplement while I go over my research." Icheb said, pausing for a second to watch Seven take the stack of papers and lay them on the edge of the console. When she turned back and caught his eye, he gave her a half smile. "I will see you later."

"Enjoy your research." returned Seven, stepping into her alcove as he slipped from the room. "Computer, initiate regeneration cycle. One hour."

 ***** _"Initiating regeneration cycle, duration: one hour."_ *****

 **XXX**

 **Love it? Hate it? Tell me in a review!**

 **~LM**

 ***SoSoy is basically Klingon for Mommy.**

 **Te Quiero is I love you.**


	4. Me?

**Author's Notes: Welcome to the final chapter! I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing! I have so many dour stories in the works that I needed a sweet and silly pick me up! Thank you to all of my reviewers, and special thanks to Scifiromance, Starshine, and Wayamoon for putting up with me and letting me tell them a story! Thank you for letting me tell you a story!**

 **~LM**

 **XXX**

 ***** _"Regeneration cycle complete."_ *****

Seven blinked open her eyes and stepped from the floorplate at the back of her alcove, the sound of the machine whirring down indicating her complete disengagement from the program. She took one more step to the edge of her dais when something tickled the inside of her wrist. Lifting her arm up, she snorted in amusement at the red tag and the rose tied to her wrist with a white ribbon, using her other hand to flip the paper over to read the message.

 _'Seven, Te Quiero, Mi Amor. XOXO ~Chakotay'_

She untied the ribbon, her eyes scanning the bay for any sign of surveillance or mess. Finding none, she felt her frown deepen into a pout. Chakotay had come in here while she was regenerating to leave her a note and another rose, but he hadn't thought to wake her? He had seemingly gone out of his way to avoid her all day. Her anxiety level rose again even as she told herself to calm down. There was only fifty minutes for her to get ready for the party so she had little time to lose. Just as she began to set the rose with the tag and papers on the console, she changed her mind. Instead, she took it with her, held to her nose, as she walked towards the doors to the corridor, reluctantly charmed. " _Helvete_ , Chakotay.."

The blonde blushed the entire walk down the corridor of deck two as she walked to Chakotay's quarters. The floor, walls, and ceiling were still brightly papered with his proposals. She picked up speed to pass the messhall, noting the pile of crashed paper planes had tripled in size since lunchtime. She stepped over the failed flyers instead of walking through them, and sprinted the last three sections to Chakotay's door, slipping inside before it was fully opened.

"Chakotay?" She couldn't say she was entirely surprised at the lack of reply, but there was no stopping the crushing disappointment spreading through her chest. When did she become so dependent upon him for equilibrium? All it would take would be one hello and she would be fine for the rest of the day... but he denied her even that. Refusing to sniffle, and blinking the wetness away, she attempted to put her day behind her by walking to his closet and peering inside.

The dress she had chosen for the night was knee-length and bright red with a tall empire waist and a lowcut halter neckline. Pushing her nerves at wearing the impulsively chosen garment to the back of her mind, she laid it out on the bed and slipped into the en suite. The bathroom was warm and damp. He had obviously just been there and taken a shower. His wet towel hung over the laundry hamper, and the scent of his cologne hung heavy in the air. Rolling her eyes at his dirty uniform on the floor beside the hamper, she bent over and scooped it up. The second it was lifted, a dozen red tags fluttered out of it to the floor at her feet. "Really, Älskling? Boobytraps?"

Forty-five minutes later found her slipping her feet into a pair of sparkly red ballet flats before returning to the mirror in the bathroom. Her hair hung in cornsilk curls down to her shoulder blades just the way he liked it. She smoothed the front of the dress down flat, turning in the mirror to check it from all sides. This was the first time she had worn something quite this short without leggings beneath- not that she had much experience with clothing outside of her typical biosuits. Still, there had been a good handful of times Chakotay had talked her into replicating something for a party here or a date there. This would be the first time that he hadn't assisted her in choosing. With the way it hugged her curves, she was sure it would meet his approval.

 **XXX**

Tal was the first person to notice Seven enter Sandrine's, the blonde ex-drone looking around a bit nervously at the crowded holoprogram. She noted with a smile that Seven had taken her advice, tucking the pretty rose into her hair behind her ear. Gently prodding Harry beside her, she gestured to the doorway, drawing his attention to the Astrometrics officer. "Come on." she said to him, taking his hand and leading him through the people milling around to the door. "Hey! Seven! Over here!"

Seven looked up at her name, and seeing Tal and Harry waving their hands at her, managed a half-smile as she wove her way to meet them. "Hello, Tal. Hello, Harry." she said in greeting. The blonde took in the green spaghetti strap maxi dress Tal had chosen. Harry stood beside her in a short sleeved polo the same color. "You match."

"Hey! Glad you made it!" said Harry with a smile, smoothing down the front of his matching green polo. "Yeah, this was an accident." He gestured to his shirt. "But not a bad one. Oh! The others are all back at the tables."

Tal nodded, gesturing back to the far corner of the bar. "We were just getting some drinks. Come with us?"

"As you wish." Seven nodded.

The young Bajoran reached out and took Seven's hand, gently pulling her along with them as they walked through the crowd towards the bar. "Your dress is beautiful, by the way." she said over her shoulder. "Chakotay will love it."

Seven couldn't help the blush. "Thank you."

Sandrine's bar was just as busy as the rest of the joint, with two bartenders, Sandrine, and the Doctor all serving out everything from beer and wine to fruity blended cocktails. The two shiny silver blenders sitting along the back liquor wall stood out in contrast with the rustic wood and marble slab, but were barely visible with how busy the four holograms were behind the bar. As the three approached, squeezing in between the other patrons to sidle up to the wood and marble bar, the Doctor was the first to see them. The EMH handed the beer he had just poured to the lieutenant that had ordered it before bustling over to the trio with a smile.

"Well, well, well." he said, tossing his bar mop over his shoulder and twirling the curled ends of his fake mustache. "Who do we have here?"

"Welcome to Chez Sandrine's!" Sandrine said to them, slipping between the Doctor and the bar with four mugs full of beer in each hand. "Excuse me, Doctor!"

"Pardon me, Madame." he said, stepping back to allow her to pass. He turned his attention back to the three. "Ladies, you're looking lovely tonight. What'll it be?"

"Thank you, Doctor." Tal said with a smile. She looked at Seven. "What do you want to drink?"

"I am unsure." returned the blonde, her eyes going over the many bottles of liquor along the shelves behind the bar. "I am sensitive to synthehol."

Harry placed his hand on the small of Tal's back before leaning over to order for them. "We will have one beer and two strawberry daquiris- one virgin." He glanced at the girls. "Is that alright?"

"Good choice, Mister Kim." said the Doctor, pulling a glass bottle of beer up from beneath the bar. He placed it on a small paper coaster before beginning to gather the ingredients for the girls. "So, I hear you're the talk of the ship today, Seven." he said conversationally, ignoring or perhaps not noticing her deepening blush. "And you know its everywhere if the hologram knows about it. The Commander certainly has... creative means of accomplishing-"

"Doctor." Tal scowled, trying to cut the hologram off.

Oblivious, he ignored her. "The whole ship had just been buzzing all day!"

"Yeah," Harry said, trying to casually deflect. "It's been a long, boring day. Can I get a-"

The Doctor leaned over the bar towards Seven. "Speaking of what everyone has been buzzing about, depending upon your answer, you and I should have a check-up in sickbay."

Seven frowned. "What for?"

Wagging a finger, the Doctor explained. "It is always better to think about birth control and prophylaxis before one becomes sexually active so that they won't have to worry about it afterwards."

Walking back past the Doctor, Sandrine paused and glared at him, putting her hands on her hips. "Doctor! That is not a discussion for you to have at my bar! What kind of a place do you think this is?!" She crossed her arms. "Such discussions should be held upstairs!"

The Doctor ignored Sandrine, turning his eyes from Seven to Tal. "I've heard quite the little birdies about you and Mister Kim as well. Perhaps you and I should also have a meeting."

Seven took a step back. "I'm leaving."

Tal, beet red for anger and embarrassment, grabbed the blonde's arm. "Like hell you are!" she gave the Doctor one last, scathing glare before leading Seven into the crowd and across the room towards the tables. "Come on, Seven- let's go find the others."

The Doctor frowned at their swift departure, turning his head to look at a scarlet Harry. "Is it something I've said? Preventative care is very important!"

Harry shook his head. "Uh, so... those ships have already sailed.." He set his beer back onto the bar. "I'm not as thirsty as I thought I was. Er, see you later, Doc."

As the trio walked away from the bar, Sandrine gave the bald patch on the back of the Doctor's holographic head an angry swat. "Don't scare away my customers!"

Just as Tal had said, the biggest round table in the bar was placed in the corner between the dancefloor and pool tables. Kathryn in an indigo blue sleeveless shift dress and B'Elanna in her favorite little black number were sitting beside a dress uniformed Tuvok. The two ladies were drinking something colorful, blended, and fruity while Tuvok sipped at a glass of water. Kathryn was the first to look up, giving the two women a motherly smile. B'Elanna quickly caught sight of them when Kathryn's attention had diverted from their conversation, but the smile she graced them with was feral.

"Good evening, B'Elanna, Captain, Tuvok." Seven said, nodding to each of them respectively. Tal nodded along with her in greeting.

"Hello Seven, Miss Celes." said Tuvok, lifting his glass of water to his lips.

"Just Kathryn tonight, Seven." Kathryn gently corrected as the two took seats across her. "I am just Kathryn without the pips."

"Of course, Kathryn." returned the blonde, crossing her legs at the ankle and tucking them beneath her chair. Settled, her eyes turned back to the crowded bar around them, searching for tall, dark, and tattooed. She easily picked out Tom chatting up Chell and Ayala by the pool tables, but Chakotay was not with him. With a sigh, she turned back to the table just as a tan hand set a sugar-rimmed margarita glass, filled to the brim with pink slush and topped with a whole strawberry, onto the table before her. She nearly jumped in surprise, swiveling up to meet Chakotay's dancing eyes above her. "Chakotay." she breathed as he pecked a kiss on her forehead.

"Hello, Querida." He nodded to the other occupants of the table, but kept his eyes on her as he slid into the seat beside her, the hand not holding his beer coming to rest comfortably on her knee. "You look beautiful tonight."

She blushed, her eyes dropping to his lap before she looked back at him through her lashes. "Where have you been all day?" she asked a little too loudly, electric blue eyes darting over to see if she had been overheard. Kathryn and B'Elanna were laughing together, but paid her little mind. She continued in a softer tone. "I tried to contact you but the computer would not send my hails."

"I've been in my office all day." he answered with a dimpled smile. "Got caught up on a lot of paperwork. Kathryn should be happy." Leaning in, he easily caught her lips with his. "I missed you, though."

Before she could reply, Tom and Harry bounded up on either side of him, each clapping a hand on his shoulder. Tom glanced at Seven, doing a quick double-take. "Hey, Seven. Nice dress! Mind if we borrow your boyfriend?"

Tal snorted behind her. "But she just got him back." B'Elanna chuckled across the table.

"Come on, Chief." Tom said, patting the commander's shoulder again. "You bet us both fifteen rations that you could beat us at pool."

"There's no backing out of a bet, Commander." said Harry, crossing his arms. "Though, I suppose that we could give you a break this one time.. I'm sure at your age it is a lot easier to boast than it is to perform."

"Perform?" Chakotay snorted. "Nah, I'm good there, thanks."

"Time to put up or shut up, Chakotay." teased Tom. "While we-" He gestured to himself and Harry. "-are still young."

A laugh broke past Chakotay's lips. "Give me a minute to finish my beer. Besides, I'm not sure I even have fifteen rations left, Tom."

Beside him, Seven's lips curled up at the edges as she lifted her margarita from the table. "Then you had better win, min älskling."

He looked at her with a hint of surprise. "You don't mind? I haven't seen you all day."

She shook her head. "I do not mind, so long as you win. I am not releasing you to go lose."

"If you're sure.." He took a sip from his bottle of beer before leaning in and kissing her cheek. "I'll be right back. This won't take long." A smirk crossed her lips at his words, bolstering him as he stood up and clapped a hand on Tom's shoulder. "Alright, Tom.. Let me show you how it's done."

As the three men left, B'Elanna and Kathryn cleared their throats, shooting pointed looks at the Vulcan security officer left. The dark-skinned man turned his head to view them stoicly for a moment before he grasped what they wanted. His eyes widened for all of two seconds before he lifted his water and pushed his chair back from the table. "If you will excuse me, ladies," he began, standing and pushing his chair back in. "I believe I will go and.. spectate."

"Good idea." said Kathryn with a smirk, watching him go.

B'Elanna reached out and smacked the table, causing Tal and Seven to jerk slightly in surprise. She leveled a feral grin at the blonde. "You're gonna say yes, right?"

The ex-Borg froze in place, staring at the half-Klingon with blown pupils. "Say yes to what?" Three sets of eyes rolled as she blushed.

Tal placed a soft hand on her shoulder. "You may be blonde, but you are not stupid."

"Seven, this isn't hard." B'Elanna whispered loudly, her finger poking the table as she made her point. "You love him, he's tail over tit for you- just say yes! Say yes, Seven." She hit the table with her whole fist. "Say yes!"

Kathryn took the more diplomatic stance. "Now, B'Elanna, it is her decision, and she is the one who should be making it.." She leaned forward over the table. "But you know, Seven, that I haven't yet gotten to officiate a marriage and-"

Tal gently cut the Captain off. "Don't listen to either of them!" She spared the Captain a glance, wincing at the raised eyebrow she received. "Er, sorry, ma'am.." She turned her attention back to Seven. "Say yes because you want to- not because they want you to."

Seven let out a sigh, a nervous frown crossing her face as she looked at the virgin cocktail Chakotay had brought her. "I need something syntheholic."

B'Elanna slid her half-finished drink across the table. "Here you go. Have a '57 Chevy." She turned her eyes on the Bajoran. "And don't you climb up on your high horse. You aren't too far from being in her shoes with little Harry Kim."

Tal squeaked, "What?!"

Eager to defer the heat off of herself, Seven nodded. "You are aware of how taken Harry Kim is with you."

"Damn right he is." commented B'Elanna.

"I have heard things in Astrometrics-"

Tal gave Seven a betrayed look before raising her eyebrows. "So have I, Princess! Don't try to tell tales on me unless you want them told right back!"

Kathryn and B'Elanna shared a conspiratorial look before B'Elanna let out a snort. "Woah, woah, woah, okay? Both of you are going to spill! Now!" It was Seven and Tal's turn to share a look. When they met B'Elanna and Kathryn's eyes, they shook their heads. "Oh, come on!" She sent an irritated look Kathryn's way when the Captain let out a loud guffaw.

A few moments later, the four men sidled back up to the table, the youngest two sporting slightly dejected expressions. Tuvok returned to his seat with his glass of water while the three others took their positions next to their respective significant others. Tom flopped down into his chair after planting a kiss on B'Elanna's forehead. Harry smiled sweetly at Tal, pulling his chair up beside hers. Chakotay took his place beside Seven, leaning back in his seat, relaxed and at ease, before resting his free hand on her knee again.

"Well, that was fast." said Kathryn.

"I should have added another couple of pool tables." Tom said with a shake of his head. "We got bumped to the back of the line."

"Well, it isn't like we don't come here at least once a week." shrugged B'Elanna, patting Tom's cheek. "You can try to beat Chakotay next time."

"Ah, but I wanted to beat him now." Tom mock-whined. Harry snorted.

"Good luck with that." commented Chakotay, gently squeezing Seven's knee, running a thumb down close to the underside, knowing she was ticklish. "Though, I have to admit, I don't mind sitting this one out."

For the next ten minutes, the conversation around the table shifted from pool to Sandrine's and then to the lack of anything worthwhile on scans for the foreseeable future. Seven listened politely, sipping on her strawberry drink after having returned B'Elanna's. Chakotay's hand was warm and heavy on her leg- she almost didn't mind his attempt to tickle her under the table.

Finally, with his most charming, dimpled grin, Chakotay leaned over to whisper in her ear. "Why are you so quiet?" he asked, dropping a kiss on her bare shoulder. "Is your drink not any good?"

She shook her head, turning to him as he leaned up enough to face her. "Oh, no," she began with a hint of a blush, "The drink is fine- it's good."

One dimple clenched as his smile dropped to a worried frown as he set his beer down on the table to turn his full attention to her. "Then what's wrong, Querida?"

Setting her drink down beside his, she tried to fake a smile for him. His frown deepened, his eyebrows drawing together. "Nothing is wrong, Älskling." she attempted to reassure him, "I'm just listening to everyone.. taking in the ambiance."

That brought a smirk across his face, his ochre eyes suddenly dancing with mirth. She knew he saw right through her. "Oh, the ambiance, is it?"

The smile that drew across her face couldn't have been hidden if she had wanted to. "Yes, the ambiance." She gestured to the party around them, but her eyes never left his. "It's nice.. but it is missing something."

"Oh?" He brought his free hand down to rest on her other knee, gently turning her to bodily face him. "What is missing?"

She blushed a bit deeper, her eyes dropping to the smirky smile on his lips as she bolstered her courage and looked back up. His eyes were warm pools, the skin just barely crinkled around them as he enjoyed teasing her. Finally, she teased him back, "Yes. There's not one single piece of red, white, or pink paper in here- anywhere."

If anything, his eyes softened more, the curve of his lips gentle as he leaned slightly back in his chair. His hands left her knees to playfully pat the pockets of his slacks. "Oh, you want a piece of paper?" he asked playfully, patting up across his belly to the pockets on the front of his black silk button-up. "I think I have just one left.." He reached into his right pocket with a bigger smile. "Ah, here it is." When he brought his hand out, he held a red tag between his fingers. Dangling from it by a silky white ribbon was a white gold diamond engagement ring.

"Chakotay, I-" she gasped softly.

The commander only smiled, gently pulling her hands into his, the ring dangling between them. "Seven, I love you." He lightly ran his thumb across the metal laced over the back of her left hand. "All of you." he said reverently. "And I want to spend the rest of my days- and the rest of my nights- with you. We had a rough start years ago.. I was an ass." He chuckled almost nervously, his heart beating in his throat. "But you still gave me a chance. The last ten months have been the best ones of my life- I hope that never changes. You make my life so much better.. Would you, please, do me the honor.. of marrying me?"

For a second, she couldn't breathe. The ring dangling against the inside of her wrist felt white-hot against her skin. Chakotay's eyes were liquid chocolate, his grin hopeful as his thumb continued its light pass back and forth across her knuckles. A smile lit up her face as first she nodded until she managed to talk her lungs into taking a gasping breath. "Of course!"

The table around them- and seemingly the entirety of Sandrine's expended pub- erupted into cheers. As soon as Chakotay slid the little ring onto her finger, he leaned forward to capture her lips with his own. As if a signal had been flagged, a hundred white, pink, and red paper airplanes showered down upon them from the many spectating patrons surrounding them. Cheers became laughs as the party-goers jumped into another airplane war around them.

B'Elanna slapped the table, catching their attention, smiling at the blush on Seven's cheeks. "Good answer, Seven!"

Tom raised his beer beside her. "To Seven and Chakotay!"

The rest of the table lifted their drinks. "To Seven and Chakotay!"

A sniffle caught Tal's attention, and she turned to look at the Captain sitting beside her. Tears were fighting to fall down her reddened face. "Captain, are you alright?"

The Captain smiled at her, patting her arm. "I'm just great." she said, wiping her eyes so as not to smudge her makeup. "I'm just a sucker for weddings and proposals and.." She trailed off with a laugh, her attention turning to the happy couple. "I'm so happy for you, Seven!"

Tom chuckled, taking another sip of his beer and swiping an airplane out of the air destined for his head. "Don't worry about her, Tal- she's just sad that her little girl is all grown up!"

B'Elanna snorted beside him, turning her attention to Harry and Tal with a predatory glint in her eyes. "Well, that's one couple down... one to go..." she hinted. Harry gulped, his eyes immediately down on the table. Tal mirrored him, her cheeks flaming red.

Kathryn gently swatted in the half-Klingon's direction. "Now, now, 'Lanna.. play nice." That out of the way, she smirked, turning to the young couple. "But now that you mention it... I'm not getting any younger, and it would be nice to do a couple of wedding ceremonies before we make it back to the Alpha Quadrant..."

Seven and Chakotay watched their friends tease each other with happy smiles on their faces. She let out a quick gasp as he reached over and pulled her into his lap, his arms circling her waist as he turned his head up to meet her face. " _Te quiero_." he said.

" _Te quiero._ " she whispered, leaning down and pressing her lips to his.

 **XXX**

 **Please review!**

 **~LM**


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